Transcript Sumerians 1 st Mesopotamian Civ

Prehistory
• Hunting and gathering societies
dominated human history until 9000
B.C.E.
• These people helped propel migration
over most of the lands on earth.
Human Life Before Agriculture
• The nature of the human species
gradually changed during the Paleolithic
(Old Stone) Age.
• Homo erectus: A less apelike species
whose larger brain, erect stance, and
opposable thumbs emerged btwn.
500,000 and 750,000 years ago.
• More advanced humans killed off
competitors over time, and the newest
human breed Homo sapiens originated c.
240,000 years ago in Africa.
• All humans in the world today are
descendents of homo sapiens……..
Except Sasquatch, maybe.
Human Life Before Agriculture
• The greatest achievement of Paleolithic people was
spreading the human species.
• Mesolithic ppl. Domesticated cows, improving food
supply.
• Neolithic ppl. Invented agriculture, and built the 1st
cities, foreshadowing civilization.
• The invention of agriculture and the discover of metal
tools (Bronze Age, 4000 B.C.E.), moved the human
species toward civilization.
• With agriculture, humans were able to settle in one
spot and focus on particular economic, political, and
religious goals and activities.
Indo-European Migrations: 4m-2m BCE
The Middle East: “The Crossroads of Three Continents”
The Ancient Fertile Crescent Area
The Middle East: “The Cradle of Civilization”
Civilization
• The word civilization comes from the Latin word for
city.
• The first civilizations formed in Mesopotamia, Egypt,
the Indus River basin, China, and Central America.
• The very 1st arose in the Middle East along the banks
of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
• Mesopotamian civilization is one of only a few cases
of a civilization developed completely from scratch,
with no examples to imitate (& China, Olmecs).
Sumerians
• 1st Mesopotamian Civ. 3500 B.C.E.
• Developed cuneiform alphabet, 1st
known case of human writing. Scribes
wrote on clay tablets.
• Devised syst. of #s based on units of
10, 60, and 360 that we still use in
calculating circles and hours.
Sumerians
• Ziggurats: 1st monumental architecture. Each
cit had one, devoted to patron god.
• Sumerians polit. structures were organized
around city states, led by king.
• Govt. regulated religion, provided a court
system, and kings were military leaders.
• Land was worked by slaves, beginning long
tradition of slavery.
Sumerians
Cuneiform: “Wedge-Shaped” Writing
Cuneiform Writing
Deciphering Cuneiform
The Importance of Writing
• Most civilizations developed writing. Societies that
employ writing can organize more elaborate political
structures, b/c it allows them to send messages and
keep records.
• With writing, they could tax more efficiently, and
make contracts and treaties.
• Societies with writing can generate a more
intellectual climate b/c of their ability to record data
and build on past, written wisdom.
• Becoming literate changes the way people think,
encouraging them to consider the world as a place
that can be understood rationally.
Sumerian Religion – Polytheistic
Government-Theocracy
Gilgamesh
Gilgamesh Epic Tablet:
Flood Story
Ziggurat at Ur
 Temple
 “Mountain of
the Gods”
Mesopotamian Harp
Board Game From Ur
Akkadians, Babylonians, & Beyond
• Sumerians fell to the Akkadians, who contd. Much of
Sumerian culture.
• Another period of decline was followed by the
Babylonian conquest.
• The Akkadians and Babylonians spread civilization to
other parts of the Mid. East. through conquest.
• Under the Babylonian rule of king Hammurabi, the 1st
codified system of law was introduced.
• By 2100 B.C.E. invasions by Semitic peopes from the
south brought Semitic language to the region.
• Btwn. 1200 and 900 B.C.E. the Assyrians and then
the Persians created large empires in the Mid East.
Sargon of Akkad:
The World’s First Empire [Akkadians]
The Babylonian Empires
Hammurabi’s [r. 1792-1750 B. C. E.] Code
Hammurabi, Theocracy
Babylonian Numbers
Babylonian Math
Works Cited
• Adas, M., Gilbert, M.J., Schwartz,
S.B., & Stearns, P.N. (2007). World
civilizations: The global experience.
(5th ed.). New York: Pearson
Education.
• Images from Susan M. Pojer
Horace Greeley HS Chappaqua, NY,
http://www.pptpalooza.net/.